ATLANTA (AP) -- Coach Jim O'Brien cringed as Allen Iverson fell
down in an attempt to catch Chris Webber's awkward pass near
midcourt.
Fortunately for O'Brien and the Philadelphia 76ers, Iverson
wasn't called for traveling, and as the seconds ticked away he
drove the lane past Boris Diaw and fed Marc Jackson.
Jackson, fouled by Al Harrington, hit a pair of free throws with
1.2 seconds remaining, and Iverson stole Atlanta's ensuing inbounds
pass as the Philadelphia 76ers escaped with a 98-97 victory
Saturday night that extended the Hawks' losing streak to 11 games.
"He has the agility of a cat," O'Brien said of Iverson. "For
him to be able to fall, avoid the guy stealing the ball, get up,
and then penetrate and make the appropriate pass to Marc again at
the end of the game ... was really, really great."
Iverson, who hit all 13 of his free throw attempts, scored 33
points but was just 3-for-19 from the floor in the second half.
After Tom Gugliotta's 20-footer from the right baseline gave the
Hawks their first lead since midway through the fourth quarter,
Webber bounced a pass too hard to his right at Iverson. But the
NBA's leading scorer quickly hopped up after tripping and falling.
"I can't explain it," Iverson said. "I got the ball and I was
getting ready to take off. I don't know. I guess I was moving too
fast for myself and I just fell down. But when I hit the floor I
still had control of the ball. I jumped back up."
Jackson, who finished 7-for-7 from the foul line, never worried
he would miss the final two free throws. Ever since he missed two
free throws that would've given Temple a win over Rhode Island in
the 1997 Atlantic 10 tournament title game at the Spectrum, Jackson
has used that setback to his advantage.
"I think about that every time I'm at the foul line," Jackson
said. "That's the first thing I think of."
Iverson ended the game by stealing Diaw's inbounds pass from the
left sideline on the Hawks' end. He celebrated with a victory lap
around the Philips Arena floor.
"I swear to you I'm not tired," Iverson said after playing the
entire game. "My teammates always call me a freak of nature ever
since I came in the league -- how much I play. With Larry Brown, I
always knew if we lose one game, I'm going to play 48 minutes. So
I'm kind of used to it. I want the minutes. I don't get tired. I
save that for after the basketball game. Forty-eight minutes. I've
got all the energy in the world."
The Sixers won two straight for the first time since acquiring
Webber in a Feb. 23 trade with Sacramento. Webber finished with 18
points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Tyronn Lue, who scored 13 points before fouling out, gave
Atlanta, the NBA's worst team, their biggest lead, 72-65 with 2:16
left in the third quarter. Harrington led the Hawks with 19 points.
Josh Childress finished with 16.
In dropping to a league-low 8-20 at home, Atlanta found a way to
hit bottom again.
"I think so," said Lue when asked if this loss was arguably
the most difficult in a long season. "It was especially tough
because we had the lead with 17 seconds left. We played hard and
gave a good effort. We always get the bad bounces."
Mike Woodson, the Hawks' first-year coach, tried to find ways to
explain the team's longest losing streak since it dropped 10
straight in 2000-01.
"Any time you lose, it's tough," Woodson said. "We played
well enough to win, but we just didn't get it done down the
stretch."
Game notes
The Hawks had their third sellout of the season, all of
them losses. ... Philadelphia activated guard Willie Green and
forward Josh Davis and placed forwards Matt Barnes and Michael
Bradley on the injured list. Neither Green nor Davis played.